Come for the skincare, stay for the heartcare

I was born in Cyprus during the Second World War and my family was evacuated to South Africa, where I have spent most of my life. After leaving school, I spent three years as a secretary on a yacht in the Mediterranean before I returned home.

An interest in cosmetics awakened

My first introduction to cosmetics was a lunchtime demonstration in an office, where I was working as a secretary. This resulted in my becoming a beauty consultant and promoting that range in my lunch hour to earn extra income.

I soon found I was earning more in my lunch hour than working for the CEO of a merchant bank so I resigned and became a full-time distributor for a large direct-selling cosmetic company. I was invited by them to attend a cosmetic conference, where I was to be introduced to the international trainer of one of the most prestigious French cosmetic houses in the world. I accepted the invitation immediately, sold my car to purchase the air ticket and flew to Paris.

I completed the course and flew to London, where I had difficulty in finding a job so I returned home – there is no place like home when you are broke!

I was offered a position in Johannesburg with the same French company I had trained with in Paris and remained with them for 18 months. It was during that time that I became a Christian, after my older brother shared his faith with me.

A change of direction

My whole life changed and I realised my season with the cosmetic company had ended. I left and began to pray for direction in my life, understanding that the safest place to be was in the will of God.  

I was attending a lively Anglican church at the time but every now and then I would visit a large charismatic church for a spiritual injection! It was on one of those Sundays I was asked to take a sick child to the service. The pastor made a call at the end of the service for people to be born again, baptised in the Holy Spirit and the third call was for people who were praying for direction in their lives. My heart was pounding but I remained in my seat. Fortunately, the last call was for the physically ill and the mother asked me to take the child forward.

But as my sister often said to me: “You know, Jean, you could never have done what you did if you had been married” 

Together we went forward and the pastor saw me and said: “God has revealed to me that you have been praying for direction in your life. He is opening doors for you; you haven’t enough faith, but you must go through them as God is going to use you where he is taking you.” He then prayed for the child and she was instantly healed.

I knew the word I had received was from the Lord and the very next day I called a friend of mine who had been encouraging me to start my own cosmetic company, and said to him: “I’m going ahead.” He was the CEO of a large Swiss pharmaceutical company; he put me in touch with manufacturers of cosmetics and components and we launched Jean Guthrie Beauty Care on 6 December 1980 with ten products and ten distributors!

We soon had distributors all over South Africa and beyond and today we have a prestige range of high-end skincare, personal care and perfume products. In 1990, our tenth anniversary, I attended a perfume school in Switzerland and was privileged to be tutored by one of the top perfumers in the world at the time.

We became a boutique cosmetic company, and our mission statement has always been, to bring inner and outer beauty to women all over the world – the true beauty of Jesus Christ; to market a range of prestige products internationally and to make a difference in the nation through income creation – encouraging and empowering entrepreneurs to own their own business within a business.

In 1986 I started taking evening classes at Rhema Bible School, which went on for two years, as I wanted more theological training. I was then invited by different churches to do inner and outer beauty talks. My passion is for the Holy Spirit. He illuminates Jesus, he magnifies Jesus, he reveals Jesus. He’s the gift that Jesus gave us when he left (John 14:26). 

My daily prayer is: “Lord, I’m just surrendering to you. I just want to hear your voice. I really want to hear it more and more clearly.”

Reaching the unchurched

God has given us the most powerful platform to proclaim the gospel. Women who may never go to church will come to a ‘beauty morning’ where we display the product, analyse skins, take orders at tea time after which they are free to leave. However, most of them stay for the second part of the morning, when we tell them how to be truly beautiful by opening up their hearts and inviting in the king of glory – Jesus. 

Over the past 44 years I have seen thousands of women all over the world accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour and find their true identity in him. Their lives are transformed as they experience what I call the ‘divine swap’ – his nature for ours! “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The women’s mornings became Holy Spirit weekends in some churches, with sessions on the image of Christ, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the anointing, the presence of God and so much more!

Excited for the future

This year we will be celebrating our 45th anniversary. God birthed Jean Guthrie Beauty Care, expanded it, maintained it and he is now taking us into a new season of growth and expansion. I never married even though I had a few opportunities. But as my sister often said to me: “You know, Jean, you could never have done what you did if you had been married.” 

I had a clear word in January 2025 that God was doing a new thing: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland (Isaiah 43:19). The Message version says: “Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?”

Women who may never go to church will come to a ‘beauty morning’

It burst out in March when we signed an agreement with a Christian couple to spearhead the growth and expansion of the company. They have a wealth of experience and expertise to take Jean Guthrie Beauty Care to a whole new level in Africa and beyond. “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord” (Zechariah 4:6).

I am excited and full of anticipation to see how the Holy Spirit is going to lead us in the years ahead, as we reach out through the powerful platform God has given us to make a difference in lives both practically and spiritually. I am also excited to be part of the great end-time revival, which has already begun. “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people” (Acts 2:17). It is happening now, for the purpose of displaying his power in you and me, that his name may be proclaimed the whole world over!  

This morning in the supermarket there was a girl looking so miserable. I said to her: “Do you know Jesus?” I prayed for her and gave her a little leaflet, and three security guards came forward and said that they had a dangerous job, so asked if I could pray for them. They gave their lives to Jesus. There’s such opportunity out there: all we need is a little boldness of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an optional extra. It’s absolutely vital for an overcoming, victorious, triumphant life. 

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